Thread: Most Say U.S. Should ‘Not Get Too Involved’ in Ukraine Situation

People-Press
March 11, 2014

By a roughly two-to-one margin (56% vs. 29%), the public says it is more important for the U.S. to not get involved in the situation with Russia and Ukraine than to take a firm stand against Russian actions.

Most of this group – 19% of the public overall – said the U.S. should consider only political and economic options in addressing the situation, while just 8% of the public think that military options should be considered.

Just 16% of Republicans and smaller shares of Democrats and independents (5% each) say that military options should be considered.

Most Say U.S. Should ‘Not Get Too Involved’ in Ukraine Situation

Reluctance Crosses Party Lines

As Russian troops remain in Ukraine’s Crimea region and Crimea’s Parliament has set up a secession vote, Americans prefer the U.S. to not get too involved in the situation. By a roughly two-to-one margin (56% vs. 29%), the public says it is more important for the U.S. to not get involved in the situation with Russia and Ukraine than to take a firm stand against Russian actions.



The new national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted March 6-9, 2014 among 1,003 adults, finds more disapprove (44%) than approve (30%) of the way the Obama administration is handling the situation involving Russia and Ukraine, while roughly a quarter (26%) offer no opinion.



Opinions about the administration’s handling of the situation are divided along partisan lines. A majority of Republicans (67%) disapprove of its handling of the situation, while most Democrats (56%) approve. Independents by roughly two-to-one (52% to 24%) disapprove of how the administration has handled the situation involving Russia and Ukraine.
But partisans generally agree that the U.S. shouldn’t get too involved in the situation. Half of Republicans (50%) say it is more important for the United States not to get too involved; just 37% think the U.S. should take a firm stand against Russian actions.



Among Democrats, 55% prefer not getting too involved and three-in-ten (30%) say the U.S. should take a firm stand.

Those who say it is more important for the U.S. taking a firm stand against Russian actions in Ukraine were asked if the U.S. should consider military options or only political and economic options. Most of this group – 19% of the public overall – said the U.S. should consider only political and economic options in addressing the situation, while just 8% of the public think that military options should be considered.

Just 16% of Republicans and smaller shares of Democrats and independents (5% each) say that military options should be considered.

There is broad agreement that Russia was not justified in sending troops into Ukraine. Overall, 68% say Russia was not justified in sending troops into Ukraine while just 10% say it was justified; 22% express no opinion. There are no significant partisan differences in these opinions.

Among the public, 28% say they are very closely following news about Russia sending troops to Crimea in response to a new Ukrainian government, while 31% say they are following news about Russia and Ukraine fairly closely; 40% of the public is following this story not too closely or not at all closely.

By comparison, the early stage of the conflict between Russian and Georgian forces in August 2008 drew lower interest; shortly after the conflict began, 17% tracked news about the situation very closely. Interest rose the following week (to 35% following very closely) and then declined. By the end of August 2008, as news coverage of the situation decreased, 22% said they were paying very close attention to the Russia-Georgia conflict.



Those who are following the news very closely are more inclined than others to advocate for the U.S. to take a firm stand against Russia. Among those closely following the news, roughly as many say the U.S. should take a firm stand (47%) as prefer not getting too involved (43%).

But among those paying less attention, a much greater share say it is more important not to get too involved (61%) than to take a firm stand (22%). Among both groups, however, wide majorities say Russia was not justified in sending troops and more disapprove than approve of how Obama has handled the situation. There are no significant differences in the shares of Republicans, Democrats and independents following this story very closely.
The Week’s News



Overall, about as many followed news about the nation’s economy as the situation in Ukraine very closely (28% Ukraine, 27% economy). Nearly as many closely tracked news about the rollout of the 2010 health care law (23%). By comparison, 19% very closely followed news a week earlier (Feb. 27-Mar. 2) about violence in Ukraine and the new government there.

News interest last week about Russian troops in Crimea was highest among those with higher education levels. Roughly four-in-ten (38%) college graduates very closely followed the story, compared with about three-in-ten people (29%) with some college education and two-in-ten (20%) with a high school degree or less.

About the Surveys

March 6-9, 2014 Survey

Most of the analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted March 6-9, 2014 among a national sample of 1,003 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (501 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 502 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 280 who had no landline telephone). The survey was conducted by interviewers at Princeton Data Source under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. A combination of landline and cell phone random digit dial samples were used; both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Respondents in the landline sample were selected by randomly asking for the youngest adult male or female who is now at home. Interviews in the cell sample were conducted with the person who answered the phone, if that person was an adult 18 years of age or older. For detailed information about our survey methodology, see http://people-press.org/methodology/.

The combined landline and cell phone sample are weighted using an iterative technique that matches gender, age, education, race, Hispanic origin and nativity and region to parameters from the 2012 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and population density to parameters from the Decennial Census. The sample also is weighted to match current patterns of telephone status and relative usage of landline and cell phones (for those with both), based on extrapolations from the 2013 National Health Interview Survey. The weighting procedure also accounts for the fact that respondents with both landline and cell phones have a greater probability of being included in the combined sample and adjusts for household size among respondents with a landline phone. Sampling errors and statistical tests of significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:


Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.
February 27-March 2, 2014 Survey

Some news interest analysis in the report is based on telephone interviews conducted February 27-March 2, 2014 among a national sample of 1,002 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (500 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 502 were interviewed on a cell phone, including 272 who had no landline telephone). The survey was conducted by interviewers at Princeton Data Source under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates International. A combination of landline and cell phone random digit dial samples were used; both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish. Respondents in the landline sample were selected by randomly asking for the youngest adult male or female who is now at home. Interviews in the cell sample were conducted with the person who answered the phone, if that person was an adult 18 years of age or older. For detailed information about our survey methodology, see http://people-press.org/methodology/.

The combined landline and cell phone sample are weighted using an iterative technique that matches gender, age, education, race, Hispanic origin and nativity and region to parameters from the 2012 Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and population density to parameters from the Decennial Census. The sample also is weighted to match current patterns of telephone status, based on extrapolations from the 2013 National Health Interview Survey. The weighting procedure also accounts for the fact that respondents with both landline and cell phones have a greater probability of being included in the combined sample and adjusts for household size among respondents with a landline phone. Sampling errors and statistical tests of significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey:


Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.



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